Feed roll for woodworking machine



Jan. 6, 1959 COALWELL 7 2,867,253

FEED ROLL FOR WOODWORKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 26' Fig 36 [III o o 0 0X0 0X0 010 (10 o o 22 Fig.2

44 a, 99 w v 4 f fi 22 1 Fig 3 I02 54 5? Herbert E. Coo/well INVENTOR. 56

2; 74 BY a s 2% Jan. 6, 1959' H. E COAL E' L- 2,867,253

FEED ROLL FOR WOODWORKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Herbert E. Coo/well- INVENTOR.

BY wa y 5 Y ited States atent Office 2,867,253 Patented Jan. 6, 1959 FEED ROLL FOR WOODWORKING MACHINE Herbert E. Coalwell, Reno, Nev. Application September 28, 1956, Serial No. 612,810 3 Claims. (til. 144-446) This invention relates to improvements in woodworking machines and more particularly to a feed roll for the machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a feed roll which is so constructed as to enable it to conform to various irregularities in the Work that is being fed and drive the work with efiicacy.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feed roll which is automatically adjustable in response to variations in thickness, height, angle of bevel and the like in work pieces and drive them with surety for feeding into the cutters of the machine or other tool parts to which the stock is to be fed.

A further object of the invention is to provide ,a feed roll capable of being adjusted so that when stock having various angles of bevel is fed to the machine the feed roll is automatically adjustable to suit the angularity of the work piece. This obviates the necessity for changing the rollers in accordance with the work that is being fed. It is a present practice with high speed electric moulders to exchange the feed rollers in accordance with the angle of bevel of the stock that is being fed into the machine, otherwise the efiiciency of the machine is reduced and shut downs are often caused. Such machines, often referred to as stickers are designed in this way. The present invention makes possible the continuous operation of the machine without being concerned with sorting the stock and/or changing feed rollers therein.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refere to like parts throughout, and in which:

Fig. l a fragmentary elevational view of a standard moulding machine but having feed rollers constructed in accordance with the invention therein;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the feed roller in accordance with the invention being used on a typical piece of stock that is being fed into the machine;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of a part of the hub and shoes mounted pivotally thereon;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the other part of the sectional hub having the shoes mounted thereon;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a typical shoe which constitutes a part of the invention; and,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a brake element which also constitutes a part of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings there is a fragmentary part of a moulding machine 10, this machine including a conveyor 12 which propels the work 14 in conjunction with a pair of feed rollers 16 and 18. These feed rollers are mounted rotatably on and with drive shafts 20 and 22 of the machine with pressure being applied through the saddle 24. This saddle is held depressed in a down position by adjustment of hand wheel 26, the latter applying a spring load onto the shoe 24 through spring 28 and having the spring load directed by means of guide rods 30 and 32 on which there are springs 34 and 36 whose compressive force is respectively applied onto the shafts 20 and 22. This is a standard arrangement and .merely typifies the general class of woodworking machines having a feed roll type of arrangement for propelling the work piece or pieces into the cutting, planing etc. station thereof.

The feed rolls 16 and 18 are designed principally, but not exclusively, for use with woodworking. machines known as stickers. The rough, unfinished board or strip 14 is pushed against the feed rolls of the sticker. These rolls are ordinarily solid steel rolls by means of which the work piece is forced through the machine and comes out of the other end of the machine as a piece of moulding. In many moulding plants re-sawed material is used, this material being beveled, and in feeding the strip through the machine solid steel rolls which are beveled are found to be best suited for the job. Where bevelled material is being run a choice of bevelled rolls consisting of about six or eight is made using the bevelled roll which corresponds to the bevel on the strip to give the roll as much power as possible through the contact with as much top surface of the strip as possible. It often happens in moulding mills that the stock to be run through the machine comes in various thicknesses, or that one edge is thicker than the other or that the board is not uniform in some other manner and the regular steel roll does not contact the entire surface of the board. Therefore the driving power is lost and the machine output is slowed. In addition it also happens that the end of the material being fed into the machine is very uneven and has extra material on it and if too far out of line in the present method of machine use, the rolls are stopped and a hand saw is used to cut oif a portion of the stock. This results in a shutdown of the machine,

even for a moment and in a loss in efiiciency due to the delay.

It is a present practice, to save material, to split any rectangular (in cross section) boards into two triangular (in section) strips before feeding into the moulding machine. The angularity varies throughout quite a wide range necessitating a number of rolls. The present roll 16 or 18 (both being identical) is capable of adjustment through a range of 22, although it is to be understood that this precise number of degrees is not critical and that the roll may be made by reshaping the parts so as to have a greater or smaller range of adjustment and so that the adjustment may possibly vary from a minus figure through zero and to a plus degree figure.

Typical feed roll 18 is shown mounted on shaft 22 (Fig. 2) and drivingly connected therewith by means of a key 40 which fits in a keyway formed in shaft 22 and in a keyway in hub 42. This drivingly connects roll 13 with its shaft 22 and exemplifies merely one standard method of attaching the roll to shaft 22, this method being variable in accordance with the manufacturers desires and in so far as the roll 18 is concerned, this will be variable in accordance with the manufacturers make of machine for which it is constructed. Hub 42 is made of two parts 44 and 46, the part 44 being shown best in Fig. 4 while the part 46 is shown in elevation in Fig. 5. Hub part 44vhas a peripheral surface 48 in the shape of a truncated cone while the surface 50 of part 46 is cylindrical. Confronting grooves 52 and 54 in the parts 44 and 46 have inwardly tapered Walls that form a seat for the sectional pivot 56. The grooves 52 and 54 are formed in the confronting surfaces of the parts 44 and 46. These parts are held together by bolts 58 which an. arcuate plate 78 that has an outer work contacting surface 79 in the form of a section of a cylinder. The sides 80 and 81 have their inner ends 82 and 83 bevelled to allow the closely spaced shoes to be angulated (Fig. 3) through the desired-range. The opposite edges 85 and 86 of the innersurface of arcuate plate 78 are bevelled to further assure the complete desiredrange of adjustment. An inwardly directed ear 87 is fastened in one way or another, for example being made integral or welded, to the inner surface of plate 78 and has a hole 88in it through which the sectional pivot 58 is adapted to pass. The surface 89 of ear 87 is formed on an arc in order to fit flush against the arcuate surface 90 of the brake element 91 (Fig. 7).!

and 62 in the parts 46 and 44 There are seven slots 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 and 98 formed radially in the part 46 of the hub and each accommodates a brake element 91. In addition there is a set screw 99 for each brake element, the set screw being carried by annular cover 100 which is bolted as at 102 to the outer face of part 46. This cover has an annular skirt 104 which fits over a part of the surface 50 of part 46 and which forms an outer wall for the brake element pockets, the other walls of these pockets being the walls of the seven slots.

1 In operation the roll is attached in the machine. Work piece 14 is fed into the machine just as though a conventional roll were being used. However, the need for being particular as to the shape of the roll is obviated.

Regardless of the shape of the workpiece 14, within the p a practical .limits established by the stock that is ordinarily handled for the particular machine on which the roll is applied, the roll will adjust to suit. As indicated pre-.

viously the difficulties ordinarily involved are roughness in the work piece and variations in bevel of the stock that is fed.

f When the work piece is rough, theshoes will pivot slightly to conform. The same holds true for the variations in angle. The adjustments of brake elements 91 is provided so that a drag will be provided on the peripheral shoes enabling them to assume a generally constant angularity but to change that angularity automatically with response to the differences in'shape of work piece 14. The pivot 56 is made in arcuate sections for the same reason, that is, to permit certain floating adjustments. t

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. -Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those 43 skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction andoperation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A feed roll for a woodworking machine, said feed roll comprising a hub adapted to be driven by the machine, said hub having a plurality of circumferentially spaced pockets in the periphery thereof, a plurality of shoes, each shoe having a substantially arcuate work contacting outer surface, each pocket having one of said shoes so that said shoes are circumferentially spaced' around the periphery of said hub, each shoe having an ear provided with a smooth curved surface and located in one of said pockets, means connected to said hub and mounting said shoes for free pivotal movement about axes that are tangential to a circle about the axis of rotation of said hub and that lie at the centers of the respective smooth curved surfaces whereby said shoes are pivotally movable to conform to different shaped work pieces, a plurality of brake elements, means movably mounting one element in each pocket, each element having a smooth surface complementary to the smooth curved surface of the corresponding shoe, said smooth surfaces of a brake element'and its corresponding shoe being in contact with each other, and mechanical means carried by said hub and engaging said brake elements to adjust the positions of said elements in said pockets and thereby bring said smooth surfaces together and thus constrain the pivotal movement of said ears and shoes with -which they are connected.

2. The feed roll of claimsl wherein said hub has a plurality of slots that open through one face of said hub 1 and that register with said pockets, each element located in one slot, said brake element mounting means including for each element the walls of one of saidslots, said mechanical means including a cover attached to said' hub and overlyingthe parts of said slots that open through said hub face, and adjustable screws carried by said cover and engaging said brake elements.

3. The feed roll of claim 1 wherein'said'hub has a circumferential groove, and said shoes mounting means include at least one arcuate pivot pin in said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 235,167 Nelson Dec. 7, 1880 1,080,101 Cushman Dec. 2, 1913 1,171,957 Joecken Feb. 15, 1916 1,264,312 Lohman Apr. 30, 1918 1,392,100 Wolverton Sept. 27, 1921 2,053,294 MacEachern Sept. 8, 193.6

r 2,254,501 Solem Sept. 2,- 1941 2,446,211 Clark Aug. 3, 1948 2,631,618 Arvidson Mar. 17, 1953 

